Mind you business- Benue State Governor Ortom Slam Lalong

The Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has told his counterpart in Plateau State, Mr. Simon Lalong, to ‘mind his own business’ and not to interfere with the issue of Benue.

Ortom handed this warning to the representative of Lalong at the stakeholders’ meeting with the National Economic Council Technical Committee on Herdsmen/Farmers’ Crises Resolution.

The stakeholders were led by the Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi.

Ortom said his deputy, Benson Abounu, informed him about the discussion between him and Lalong, where the Plateau State Governor reiterated his warning to Ortom not to go ahead with the Benue State anti-open grazing law.


Ortom said, “My deputy told me that he had a discussion with Lalong recently at a function, where he (Lalong) said that he had to apologise to me over his statement because of pressure on him, saying, he stands by his earlier statement.

“He also told the people that he introduced this woman (pointing at the woman on the high table) in this committee to me, whereas, this woman was introduced to me by Nasir el-Rufai, not him.

“Thank God he has a representative here; please tell him to stop interfering with the affairs of my state; let him mind his business in Plateau and I will mind my own business here.

“I am the governor here (Benue); how can he say that he warned me? Who is he to warn me? He can only advise me.”

Lalong had at the peak of the herdsmen’s attacks on Benue State told newsmen in Abuja that he warned Ortom against the new law.

Benue Herdsmen: One Of Two Missing Cops Found Dead, As Two Civil Defence Men Are Killed Too

The Benue State Police command has said that the body of one of the officers it declared missing after an attack by Fulani herdsmen on Saturday night at the Azege-Ayilamo community in the Logo Local Government Area of the state had been found.

In a statement by the command spokesman, ASP, Moses Yamu, in Makurdi on Monday, the command lamented the death of one of the missing policemen.

Yamu stated, “He was found brutally slaughtered, with both eyes and ears as well as nose removed. We pray that God Almighty grants him eternal rest.”


The command said that it remained committed to its statutory and daunting obligation of ensuring security of lives and property in the state.

The command had stated on Saturday that suspected herdsmen had ambushed a patrol team at Azege Ayilamo in the Logo council area with four of its men missing.

Two of the missing policemen were said to have been rescued on Sunday.

In a related development, suspected Fulani herdsmen, on Monday, shot and killed two officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, who were on special operations at the Guma Local Government Area of Benue State.

The incident, according to a security source, occurred at Awamye near Kasseyo village in the local government area.

The victims were said to have been ambushed by suspected Fulani herdsmen at a stream in Awanye.

The source said, “Security men within that community have been going to the stream to bath and what they used to do is while some are taking their bath others will be on alert keeping watch.

“So, the victims were bathing while two other colleagues were keeping vigil when suddenly suspected herdsmen who had laid an ambush attacked them and killed the two, while others escaped.”

When contacted, the state command PRO, Peter Adakole, confirmed the incident.

He added that the command had dispatched a team to the area to get accurate information about what led to the death of the men.

Serena Williams' Daughter Watches Mum's Return To Action

Serena Williams returned to competitive action for the first time since maternity leave this weekend - with the support of one very special fan.

The tennis ace's five-month-old daughter, Alexis Olympia, was in the sellout crowd at the Fed Cup in Asheville, North Carolina on Sunday.

Serena, 36, lost her first official match as she and sister Venus were beaten in a doubles dead rubber by the Netherlands.
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The mum-of-one, who gave birth last September and had not played a competitive match since her triumph at the 2017 Australian Open, showed glimpses of her prowess and rust during the 6-2 6-3 loss to doubles specialist Demi Schuurs and world number 165 Lesley Kerkhove.


"It's great. It's her first match so I'm glad she got to see it," Serena said on-court at the US Cellular Arena.

Early in the match Serena showed the effects of her lengthy layoff, perhaps most noticeably when she shanked a routine volley that left her bent over in embarrassment.

But shortly after, the owner on an Open-era record 23 grand slam singles titles drew wild cheers when she confidently stepped to the net and stretched out to drive home a superb backhand volley.

Despite the loss, it was a positive step for Serena, who was bedridden for six weeks from a series of complications, including a pulmonary embolism that led to multiple surgeries, after her daughter was delivered